West Side Raiders win championship

Little did the rest of West Side know, but there was another West Side football team that won a championship this past week. This football team is the West Side Raiders. It is a group of sixth graders that were in a league that consisted of West Side, Malad, Preston, Soda Springs, American Falls, Pocatello, Blackfoot and Fort Hall.

The team battled the Malad Seahawks two weeks ago to secure their place in a championship game at Holt Arena in Pocatello. The Raiders won a close game 14–13 and earned a spot in a championship game against the Soda Springs Saints.

West Side jumped out to a quick lead with two first-quarter touchdown runs by Brigham Cook and Ben Roberts. The rest of the game was a defensive struggle until late in the fourth quarter when Soda scored two touchdowns to pull within a point. The Raider’s defense toughened up and made a great play to keep Soda from converting the PAT to hold their one-point lead. Soda got the ball back with 1:30 left, but West Side’s defense held strong. A quarterback sack by Riley Smith on a fourth down sealed the championship. The final score was 14–13. The team finished with a 6-3 record. The team had a winless season last year, so this feat was even more amazing.

This story is sponsored by LaMont Automotive.

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